I think the point is that this is a comedy forum and members like to express their opinions on comedy.

The jokes are being judged as they stand "on paper" rather than as performed by an actual comedian in front of an actual audience, and that's a perfectly valid way to judge a joke. Not the only way, of course, but a perfectly valid way. It's true that even a period of total silence and total inaction can be hilarious in the right context but I wouldn't recommend anybody trying to win a joke-writing competition by submitting a blank piece of paper with an attached note saying "You have to see it in context."

In commenting on these jokes, we're not deciding the future of any of the comedians involved. We're simply expressing opinions among ourselves. Nothing more, nothing less.